Paint is considered hazardous waste and cannot be collected at the Waimate Resource Recovery Park or placed in any kerbside collection bins while liquid. Disposing of it correctly helps protect the environment and keeps our community safe.
Your first and best options are to reuse or return paint where possible:
- Return unused Resene and Dulux paint and containers to the retailer.
- Offer leftover paint to community groups for projects.
- Take other paints to the Redruth Resource Recovery Park in Timaru. Paint collected at Redruth is picked up by 3R Group, part of the Resene Paintwise recycling service to be used in RE:Paint, New Zealand’s first commercially available recycled paint.
If reuse or drop-off isn’t possible, small amounts of paint can be safely managed at home. Never pour paint down drains. Allow the paint to fully dry, scrape it out of the container, and dispose of it in the red rubbish bin. Next, clean the containers thoroughly and dispose of them as follows:
- Metal tins under 4L: recycle in the yellow bin with lid removed (lid goes in the red bin) or they can be disposed of as scrap metal for free at the Waimate Resource Recovery Park (lid included if clean). They also make great buckets for fire ash to cool in.
- Metal tins over 4L: these can be disposed of as scrap metal for free at the Waimate Resource Recovery Park (lid included if clean).
- Plastic containers under 4L: these can go in the yellow recycling bin if numbered 1, 2 or 5, with the lid removed (lid goes in the red bin).
- Plastic containers over 4L: offer these for reuse at the Crows Nest in Timaru or any other second-hand or charity shop that will accept them. When very clean, they make great buckets or storage containers.
